dug up the "garlic crop" and it was a complete dud, two, pea-sized bulbs from four plants

Two huge bearded iris flowers appeared in the front garden near the rain gauge, purple & white

a literal "drowned rat" in the middle of the path in the back garden caused much amusement as we left this morning

two of the capsicum seedlings are broken and dead, we suspect the cat has walked on them, but have no proof

planted out three punnets in the new garden beds; tomatoes, capsicum, zucchini

A cubic metre of topsoil was delivered, many barrow-loads were moved from driveway to vege gardens

pompom bush is in full flower, and hidden under the pittosporum the lilac is flowering

front porch wildlife

Sitting on the front porch with a coffee when a loud and persistent buzzing made me look up, was it a blowfly or a wasp? Closer investigation showed it to be a particularly large and nasty-looking European wasp[1], perhaps a queen looking to set up a nest, definitely something we do not want above our front door! Was wondering if I could swat it with something or chase it away as it was landing and half crawling into the gap between the timber and the tin roof when I saw what I thought was another crawl out about 20cm away.

The flowers on the snowball bush are turning white

Noticed that the snowball bush against the back fence has flowers – green so far, camouflaged against the foliage

Jo has commenced the annual rose-knobbing – rose pruning time triggered by the last week of the Tour de France

Meyer lemon & orange tree both still covered in large ripe fruit, we're getting one or two oranges a day

blocked off one corner of the neighbour's fence where their cat climbs over – with an old wire shelf – what will the cat do now?

cleared weeds & "black matter" from guttering above water tank, the downpipes are completely choked due to poor layout

the daphne smells strong, the oranges are falling – one or two a day – and the cats are digging up vast swathes of the garden

plenty of magnolia blossoms out now, is this early, or do I think that every year?

we have one early magnolia blossom, and lots of buds waiting for spring

not too much wind storm damage overnight, just another – rotten – paling off the front fence

I emptied the chiminea ash, Jo emptied the compost bins, together we collected all the autumn leaves

The lemon tree is blossoming again, smells great. Garlic has sprouted and coming up in the rose bed. The 2m diameter dead patch fairy ring in the lawn has reappeared (magic), and the orange tree is covered in big juicy bois

garden challenge accepted; rake up the autumn leaves on the front lawn before the wind returns

planted out eight or so bulbs of "planting garlic" between roses and citrus trees

lots of citrus; the meyer lemon has some fruit, the orange tree is covered, the limes are just finishing and the lawn lemon is going strong!

cleaned the gutters, skinned the back of a little finger, bled copiously

the deciduous tree on the nature street looks very autumnal in the low early morning sun, all the yellow, orange to brown leaves

while we were away something, probably a cat, has pushed the timber aside to get in under the house

the orb spider redid her web last night, this morning it's dripping with raindrops between plum & loquat trees

big fat cold orb weaver lurking in the plum tree above the shed door, two days now I've had to break her web to get in the shed

the cat has lost her collar and registration tag out in the garden somewhere

Most likely she got it caught on a branch or bush while outside and got caught, then pulled it off in getting free. Bizarrely, this reminded me of a rather grotesque video I saw a few weeks ago of a deer stag trotting around with the head of a deceased rival caught in its antlers, extra bizarre because on looking at this morning’s newspaper that story was in “the oddspot” in the Age.

down to three beetroot seedlings, all with leaves eaten off, all dug up and dumped by cat digging up the soil

finally banged some holes in Cam's old thermos and added it and a few found mugs to the succulent container garden

bought and assembled a second timber garden bed & weed-mat, the only way to keep the feral grass out is isolation!

finally assembled the timber raised garden bed and picked a spot for it – now to line it, fill it and grow something

yet again spent a few hours pulling ropey grass out of everything, and lo, we managed to open the side gate

guerilla gardening – trimmed off the overgrowing ivy and blackberries between home and Warrigal road

tidied, re-organised and made usable the small end of the shed… now if only it had a power point

moved a spare piece of bluestone and a pile of cut branches to artfully make use of the cleared garden bed under the plum tree

Got Cam to place a row of bricks the length of the citrus garden against the fence – our cat & the neighbour's two have dug under between them

an hour ripping out ropey grass

the “garden bed” around the plum tree is just dirt & weeds. I have no idea what to do with it, we can’t seem to grow anything other than the grass that creeps through everything. Disturbed so many lizards & beetles that I just want to let it all go feral again

Cicadas started up, first time for a while since the weather's been cooler again. Only sang for 10-15 minutes though

had to sweep & shovel a path through the chomped plums to let Cam out of the garage on his way to school – the cockatoos[1] are back in the plum tree

[1] Sulphur-crested cockatoo

Cockies[1] discovered the plum tree today, a dozen or so were busy splitting the fruit open to crack the stones and eat the kernels, mess everywhere underneath!

[1] Sulphur-crested cockatoo